The assailants sliced the victim’s ear almost in half

A Belize City resident who went to visit his relatives in the village of San Antonio, Toledo District, this past weekend was allegedly cornered and mauled by a group of attackers who were under the influence of alcohol.

The incident reportedly happened on Saturday, July 12, and according to the victim, Joaquin Rodriguez, a trip up a hill in search of a phone signal almost turned deadly when he was suddenly ambushed by three men.

He said, “I went to visit my family, and as I was getting into the village, I was trying to make a phone call to let them [my family] know that I was in the area, and I ran into three fellows that were drinking; they didn’t know who I was, [so I believe] they just attacked me randomly. They stabbed me in my ribs, and then they slashed me across my neck, slicing my ear almost in half.”

Rodriguez said that after the incident, he went to the village police station, but there were no police officers there. He subsequently found out that the very same crew that had attacked him earlier had attacked another man in the same village at a shop.

Rodriguez then mentioned that although he had lost a lot of blood, he made his way to the Punta Gorda Hospital, where he was admitted for the weekend.

After being released from the hospital, Rodriguez said that he made a formal report to the Punta Gorda police, because assaults have become commonplace in San Antonio, due to the habit of many young men in the village to intoxicate themselves on the weekends.

We understand that one of the suspects was detained, but we have not been able to find out from Punta Gorda police whether he has yet been charged.